ALLEN PARK, Mich. – The fans soundly booed their Detroit Lions off the field at halftime Sunday at Ford Field.
The sellout crowd of more than 63,000 didn’t like it when the offense, after a Cincinnati touchdown with 41 seconds remaining, decided to run the clock out on two running plays.
The Lions had two timeouts left and the fans clearly wanted to see quarterback Matthew Stafford to take a shot downfield.
“We’re not going to take a poll to see what we should do right there,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Monday during his weekly news conference of the crowd’s reaction.
Schwartz then explained the reason for the conservative play calls.
“They (Cincinnati) still had two timeouts in that situation also,” he said. “If we throw a couple incompletions there, we’re going to give them the ball probably in a lot better field position than we had.
“So we want to try to get a first down, try to get the ball out there. If we had creased them on that run, and we’ve seen us do that before, if we crease them on a run or screen or even a short pass that goes for longer yardage, we can certainly get into two-minute mode right there.”
Running back Joique Bell gained 7 yards on first down out to the Lions’ 27-yard line, but that wasn’t enough to change their approach and become more aggressive.
A week earlier, the Lions had used the opposite strategy in a similar situation at the end of the half at Cleveland, and it backfired.
Detroit also had gotten the ball at its 20-yard line in that game, but with 1:16 on the clock. After three straight incomplete passes, the Lions were forced to punt the ball back to the Browns, who took over at their 26 with 50 seconds left.
Cleveland then turned a 36-yard pass play into a 40-yard field goal as time expired to take a 17-7 halftime lead.
Schwartz didn’t want that to happen two weeks in a row.
“No matter what you do there, you’re going to be answering a question,” he said. “That’s just the nature of the game.”
The Lions went on to lose Sunday to Cincinnati, 27-24, on a last-second 54-yard field goal.
EXTRA POINTS
---- Schwartz made a successful challenge late in Sunday’s game, but he wishes he had made another one after Cincinnati used an illegal forward lateral to advance the ball an additional 15 yards after a blocked field goal late in the first half.
“In retrospect, probably should have challenged it right there,” he admitted. “There was some miscommunications on the play.”
Schwartz immediately sought the advice of an official on whether the play could be challenged, but then opted not to throw the flag.
He said he has since discussed the situation with the league but wouldn’t elaborate on those discussions.
“When it was all said and done, it was my decision not to throw the flag,” Schwartz said. “I’ll just leave it at that.”
--- Schwartz, on Calvin Johnson’s nine catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns: “He wasn’t Calvin yesterday. He was Megatron. He did everything he could to get us in position to win that game.”
--- With three offensive tackles – Riley Reiff (hamstring), Corey Hilliard (knee) and Jason Fox (knee) – hampered by injuries, the Lions might have to make a roster move to get some short-term help.
“We’ll just have to see this week how it goes, see where all those guys are,” Schwartz said. “We could potentially be forced to make something but it’s too soon to tell.”
--- Schwartz said Reiff was “limited” when he had to return in the fourth quarter because Hilliard went down.
“But he was doing his job out there,” Schwartz said of Reiff. “So I think that’s a little bit encouraging.”
--- On Hilliard, who was expected to undergo a MRI Monday on his knee, Schwartz said, “I don’t know that it’s a day-to-day thing but it’s not a long-term thing.”
--- Despite going out in the fourth quarter because of a groin injury, cornerback Rashean Mathis was “no worse for wear.”
“He really stepped in and did a nice job, went as long as he could,” Schwartz said. “He just got fatigued. That was as far as he could go.”
--- As for the neck stinger suffered by running back Reggie Bush, Schwartz said, “He played tough. It really didn’t affect him on the field.”
